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Drymax Socks

For years, I was a very loyal wearer of Wigwam (formerly Ultimax) socks. I started wearing the Ultimax Cool Ultra-Lite Low in 2005 and continued when they rebranded them as the Wigwam Cool Ultra-Lite Pro a few years later and for years they were the ONLY sock I wore for running. They’re a lightweight low-cut sock, I never got blisters, and they’re pretty durable.

But with the running I do, no socks will last forever. And this spring, enough of my pairs of socks finally started showing their age that I went out to buy some more. The problem is I couldn’t find this sock anywhere. They’re listed on the Wigwam website and I did eventually find one store that sells them online, but I want socks I can buy locally. So, I started looking for a replacement.

I went to the local stores and tried a few big brands – Balega, Wright Sock, Nike, Feetures but I didn’t love any of them.

Drymax has been getting some traction recently in the ultrarunning community. They sponsor Jamie Donaldson, Andy Jones Wilkins and local stud Brian Krogmann. Other ultra bloggers Donald and Tony Portera) have raved about the socks. Drymax gets a lot of press for reducing friction and keeping feet dry and therefore helping feet stay blister-free. And they sell them at some local stores and tons of places online. So I decided to give them a shot.

My first purchase was the Lite Trail Running sock (mini crew).

It definitely feels thicker than my Wigwam socks and even the “low” version is a little higher on my ankle; both of those things gave me a little pause, but from the first time I wore them running, I loved them. They’re soft and offer a little padding without being mushy. They fit my foot well and don’t slip down or ride up. And, true to Drymax’s word, they keep my feet remarkably dry and totally blister free, even if my run includes some water crossings. I was worried that it might be too thick to work in my MT100s, but that’s not the case at all. It works perfect and feels awesome!

After trying the Lite Trail sock, I was playing around on Drymax’s website and was interested to read their take on thick or padded socks. This explanation helped me understand why I would like Drymax socks that feel “thicker” than what I’m used to:

We do not make thick padded socks because we believe they can cause problems… Thick socks have more insulation, making feet sweat more, which in cold weather can lead to colder feet, and in warm weather can make feet more susceptible to blisters and Athlete’s Foot fungus.

Drymax socks are designed with 5 different levels of protective padding. This protective padding comes in four densities: Low-, Low, Medium, Medium+ and High. By making our protective padding dense as opposed to thick, it is designed not to affect the fit of the shoes.

The Drymax website is great if you’re a running gear geek, like me. It has tons of information about the technology that goes into making their socks. Of course, they have to back up all those words and pretty pictures with a good product, but if you keep reading, you’ll see that I think they’ve done just that.

After a few successful runs in my first pair, I tried some of their other socks. I bought the Running Hyper Thin sock (no-show). The Hyper Thin is somewhat comparable to my Wigwams, mostly because it’s really low density (“Low-“ on their scale). I have to say that I don’t like the Hyper Thin sock. It’s a bit too thin for my tastes and also my big toe poked a hole in the front of each sock by the third or fourth time I wore them. I understand that that’s a risk with really thin socks, but for the money, socks need to be more durable than that. When I want to wear super thin socks, I’ll stick with my remaining surviving pairs of Wigwams.

Next, in the weeks before going to crew and pace at Badwater, I got a pair of the Hot Weather Running sock (mini crew). The Hot Weather sock has the same wicking and blister-avoiding properties as Drymax’s other socks, but they also have mesh panels to help keep feet cool. It a “Low-“ on the Drymax scale but it feels denser than the Hyper Thin and while I’ve probably only worn the pair six or eight times, they’re holding up well. I really like the Hot Weather sock and will definitely keep this one in my rotation.

I’d definitely decided that the Lite Trail would be my sock for Angeles Crest. I’m pretty sure that I’ll want to change socks during the race, so I stocked up and got a couple more pairs to have with my crew.

Then two weeks ago, I was in Sporteve* chatting with the owner about running nonsense and ended up meeting the local Drymax rep. He was psyched when has asked me what socks I wore (this was before I knew he was the Drymax rep) and I told him about my recent love for Drymax. Long story short, he hooked me up with a few pairs of socks, including more Lite Trail Running socks, some basic sports socks and the brand new, super fancy Maximum Protection Trail Running sock.

I’d read about the Maximum Protection a few months ago on runningandrambling.com , but hadn’t taken the plunge yet because they’re expensive! But I’ll definitely try them for free! I wore the Maximum Protection sock for the first time Thursday morning with my MT100s and already love them. They’re even denser than the Trail Lite (High Density on the Drymax scale), but they don’t feel “thick”. And they felt like a slipper on my foot. This sock will definitely be in my AC100 rotation. Once I get a bunch more miles in them, I’ll post a full review.

* Yes, Sporteve is a women’s sports store, but I’ve been in there a few times for nutrition and other gear. It is a fantastic store. They don’t sell many shoes, but the shoes they sell are all the specialty shoes that are hard to find elsewhere – MT100s, Brooks Green Silence, Terra Plana, Vibrams, etc. I highly recommend this store to any of my lady-friends. Now if only they sold men’s stuff… 🙁